Alcandian Soul Read online

  “Most interesting. I am astonished that she has discarded her anger so quickly.” Osher was as surprised as he was.

  Greer turned to his partner. “As am I. It produces interesting thoughts. I have avoided Earth due to their females’ independence.”

  “Yet it appears binding fever, coupled with immediate intimate contact, can overcome abduction.”

  Cassandra would have hit them both but she was too intent on her mates. Her head was aching and her nipples still painfully hard. Right or wrong didn’t matter. Seeking out the two men who made her feel secure did. Ravid stepped out of her way as she went to dive right under the warrior’s arm. She never saw the grin he shot his partner Keenan or the relief that covered both Cole’s and Dyne’s faces. She pressed right up against their bodies and inhaled their scents. Filling her lungs with the proof that she wasn’t alone. It was whole and complete and for that moment everything she needed. Her body shut down as she slipped into unconsciousness. She did it smoothly without struggle for the first time because she was with her mates.

  The rest of the details could just wait.

  Chapter Ten

  Cassandra decided she was sick of being put to bed by someone else. Her nipples tingled as she pushed her lips into a pout. Rather, she was sick of being put to bed while being unable to enjoy being in bed with Cole and Dyne. She might as well be honest—she had a major case of the hots for them.

  It was a really bad condition too. Her entire breasts were tingling now. The nipples tight and the rest of the tender flesh begging for just a touch. Slipping her hands over her chest, she sighed as a moment of relief went through her but her touch wasn’t the one she craved. Her passage was heating up as her clit throbbed. The folds of her sex felt too thick or swollen. She shifted her thighs apart as a little whimper left her lips. Someone had stripped her down before putting her to bed. Her imagination was insisting that it had been Cole and Dyne removing her garments, uncovering her body, their eyes sweeping over her skin…

  Oh Lord, Cassy!

  She had to stop. Her imagination was getting too deep a hold on her. She actually caught the scent of her own aroused body. She was wet at the mere thought of her mates. Cravings ran through her as she squirmed on the bed. It felt too large and empty without her mates. She knew she needed to get up but couldn’t force her body to go near her clothing.

  “Damn you, Somerton and Dyne. Where are you when I need you?”

  “You may use my surname as long as you are demanding my presence in your bed, heloni.”

  Cassandra opened her eyes and looked at the doorway. Cole was pushing the curtain all the way closed as Dyne lifted a finger to his lips to caution her to silence. A little bit of temptation taunted her to make enough noise to be heard below, but her body vetoed that impulse as she ran her eyes over the two powerful male frames. She licked her lower lip as anticipation turned into full need.

  Rolling over onto her stomach, she propped her elbows on the soft surface of the bed. Reaching out, she laid a hand on the hard bulge of Dyne’s cock. “Maybe I’m not the one who needs to concentrate on being quiet.” She stroked his erection through his pants before slipping her hand beneath his coat and hooked the loose waistband. Pulling it down, his cock was in her grasp a moment later. The uniform coat only fit through his shoulders, the rest of it flowed and she ducked her head beneath the maroon fabric.

  Dyne growled as she licked the head of his cock. Her own sex heated up even more as she licked all the way around the ridge that crowned his staff. She felt him undoing the buttons that held the coat closed. Opening her mouth, she took the head between her lips and heard him snarl softly. A husky chuckle rose from her throat as she sent her tongue flicking around the cock in her mouth. Dyne flexed his arms and his coat dropped to the floor before his hands threaded through her hair to hold her in place. Reaching down, she cupped the sacs at the base of his cock while sucking the head. She worked her hand over the portion she couldn’t get into her mouth because she was determined to master him. Heat was licking her clit, making her frantic for her own pleasure, but determination fed her need to make Dyne her captive for a change.

  Cole decided to change the balance. He lifted her hips until her knees bent to support her body. He rolled onto his back and placed his head between her spread thighs. A second later she gasped as he pulled her spread slit onto his face and sucked her clit.

  “Oh damn.”

  Dyne chuckled at her as he gripped her hair tighter. Just enough to send a tingle of pain down her neck. Cole’s tongue was flicking back and forth over her clit as she shivered and moaned. Dyne’s eyes flashed with blue as he locked gazes with her. “Partners always back each other up, heloni.”

  Cassandra growled at him before opening her mouth to suck his cock once again. Pleasure spiked up her body from where Cole toyed with her clit, but she resisted the urge to give in to her own pleasure. She worked Dyne’s cock and listened to his harsh grunts, trying to drive him into climax first.

  Neither of them lasted long. Dyne’s grip in her hair tightened as she tasted the first drops of his cum. His hips began to drive his cock deeper into her mouth. Cole licked down the center of her slit as Dyne’s seed erupted between her lips. She sucked harder on his length as he growled between clenched teeth in an attempt to contain the sound. His body shuddered, and a moment later, Cole lifted her and flung her back onto the bed. His body spread her thighs wide as he pressed his cock deep into her pussy. Pleasure was radiating through both their minds as he thrust hard and fast between her thighs. There was no controlling the need to join Dyne in rapture. Cassandra surged up off the bed towards her lover as she grasped him with her thighs. His hand covered her mouth as pleasure twisted through her and took the place of any thought about who heard them. Cole snarled as climax made her pussy contract around his cock. His seed hit her womb as he thrust harder into her. He buried his head against her neck as he groaned through his pleasure. Once more, they were all floating in the same pool of delight, sharing and completing each other’s enjoyment.

  “My mother is going to kill us both.” Dyne was still breathing hard. He was leaning on the bed and looked like he wanted to just drop down beside her and snuggle up.

  Cassandra really liked the idea too. But Dyne shook his head and straightened up. His eyes swept the sight of her and Cole still tangled on the bed. His lips tightened. “And Paneil will happily thrash you as well. Best we get back to what we were coming here to do.”

  Dyne jerked his pants over his cock and Cassandra felt a ripple of disappointment go through her. The hottest flare of heat had been doused, but she was far from satisfied. The harsh fabric of Cole’s uniform hurt as it pressed against her nude breasts.

  “I’m sorry, honey. I’ll take it off tonight. Promise.”

  “Tonight?” Her brain was protesting having to work again. She didn’t want to think, she just wanted to indulge her body and linger in the moment of pure pleasure. Cole wasn’t going to assist her in that though. He moved and stood up next to the bed. She felt the rush of afternoon air against her bare skin and shivered. A tiny whimper worked past her lips.

  “Come on, Cassandra. We need to do something before Paneil and Cambria show up to interfere.” Cole reached for her hands but didn’t just grasp her wrists and use his greater strength to move her as he pleased. Her brain instantly latched on to that fact as she looked at his hand waiting for her to take it.

  Choice.

  She placed her hand into his and was on her feet in a second. Dyne had moved towards the closet and was striding back on silent steps with an Alcandian coat and pants for her to wear. Cole rubbed the base of her neck for a moment. She was suddenly alone in her thoughts. Both warriors were gone from her mind. It was amazing how stark she felt without them. Neither of them locked gazes with her either.

  “What’s up, boys? I think I missed something.” And she didn’t like it. She felt rejected and it actually hurt like hell. Suspecting that separation was going to
be bad didn’t quite prepare her for the harsh reality of it ripping into her.

  “You’ll understand in a few minutes.” Cole offered her a hard look. There was distaste in his eyes as he watched her finish dressing. “We have to do something before tonight’s ceremony.”

  And they didn’t like whatever it was. Cassandra pulled her shoes on, eager to get whatever task lay ahead finished. It felt like a test, and she tensed up as she anticipated failing.

  Hurt ripped through her again as they turned and snuck out of the chamber. What Dyne and Cole didn’t notice was that Cassandra remained back in the chamber where she had become lovers with them. What followed their wide, maroon-clad shoulders out into the courtyard was a ramrod-straight enlisted woman. Trained to perform in spite of her emotions.

  Shit.

  Cole was going to remember the walk for the rest of his life. Every muscle was tense as he felt Dyne’s agitation through their link. He didn’t dare touch Cassandra’s thoughts. He just wasn’t strong enough to feel her rejection as well as see it, but he had to give her the choice. All the reasons that had allowed him and Dyne to bring her to Alcandar didn’t mean much compared to having her choose them. No borders to influence that choice.

  He wanted it all or nothing. Dyne flashed him a harsh look and Cole caught the reprimand.

  They…it was they.

  She was heading back to a restricted area. Cassandra knew the signs. Maybe the uniforms were different and the men larger, but she knew a secure location when her enlisted eyes fell on it. Cole and Dyne passed through another courtyard before moving into a vine-covered area. They walked right through a wall that dissipated in a shower of golden sparks.

  Well, that explained why she hadn’t found the wormhole portal. Another hologram designed to cancel it from her ignorant human eyes. Blue light filled the building they stopped in. She stood facing the portal that she’d been desperate to find, only today it was a sight that horrified her.

  Cole caught her chin in a hard grasp. His eyes flashed blue electricity at her. “I love you.” He cussed softly under his breath but never released her chin. “And I love you enough to set you free. That wormhole will dump you back on the trail that I took you up when this began or you can stay here and bind with us.”

  “The choice is yours.” Dyne lifted her off her feet as he hugged her. His body shook as she felt his breath next to her ear. “Stay.” He barked the single-word command before setting her down.

  Her heart was absorbing the gift of having her free will restored. It was amazing how getting the one thing that you were asking for suddenly made it less important. In fact, stepping back onto Earth was now something she wanted to avoid. Pain slashed across her emotions and she suddenly recognized that she was not the only one who didn’t want her to depart. Dyne and Cole were fighting the urge to drag her away from the glowing blue portal.

  “Why give me the choice? Isn’t that going to get you busted back down to that coat you were wearing when I showed up, Somerton?”

  Cole offered her a shrug as he let her chin go. “A lot lower, but this is between the three of us. I’ll deal with my own life.”

  “Like hell you will, Cole Somerton. It’s going to be our life, so get used to checking with me before you go trashing your career.” The words were out of her mouth before she thought any further about anything. Leaving wasn’t gleaming with temptation anymore, staying and satisfying an Alcandian Yedith was. All of a sudden she wanted the rest of the women to know that Dyne and Cole belonged to her.

  She turned to glare at Dyne. “And that goes for you too. Christ, how did you two survive without me?” She propped her hands on her hips, mimicking her mother perfectly. Being married to a military man took a spine forged from steel. Apparently she could apply that same technique to Judgment Officials.

  “Love is all well and good but you two will not go throwing your positions into the sewer, got it?”

  Neither warrior answered her. They just grinned like the cocky males they were. Cassandra tossed her hands in the air and marched out of the wormhole building and through the wall into the courtyard. She didn’t make it very far back onto Alcandar. Her mates scooped her up and pressed her between them. She wasn’t sure who kissed her first, only that she was caught between their kisses and the sweetest relief she’d ever known.

  They loved her…loved her enough to let her go. It was more than confirmation, it was the seal on their relationship that no ceremony could ever outshine. Dyne muttered in Alcandian as she tried to pull her mouth away in order to ask him what the words meant. She needed to understand, to soak up every confirmation she could.

  “He said he loves you.” Cole cupped the back of her head to stop her wiggling. His fingers gently massaged her neck as a shiver went down her spine. So much strength in that single hand, yet he controlled it expertly. She locked gazes with Cole, waiting for the blue electricity to flash through his eyes. It didn’t disappoint her.

  “I love you, Cassandra. Remember that when I’m being a dick.”

  She chuckled as she stretched forward to gently kiss him. “I’ll try, but it might take a lot of practice.”

  Dyne turned her to face him. Another set of eyes displayed blue for her and she offered him a kiss as well. He cupped the sides of her face between his hands as he studied her. “I love you deeply enough to defy everything else in my life for you.”

  Her heart twisted with emotion because Dyne would have let her go through that portal. She honestly believed it. No gift or sweetly worded card could say more than the fact that both warriors had brought her to the gate today. It was the most binding form of love, because it was built on trust instead of right of possession, or, in her case, capture. “I do love you both but could we get on with the formalities? I’m a little too old to be sneaking around behind your mothers’ backs.”

  Dyne barked with amusement as Cole chuckled. “Fat chance, Sergeant. Paneil and Cambria wouldn’t dream of missing their chance to reign supreme over the proceedings. But if you face the Yedith tonight, we get to share a chamber.”

  “Before the wedding?” Alcandians really were more advanced. You couldn’t know a man until you slept with him.

  Cole grinned at her. “Yeah. We’ll try to make sure you aren’t too disappointed in us.”

  Dyne slapped Cole on the shoulder, landing a hard blow that sent Cole stumbling. Dyne claimed possession of her as Cole growled at him. “You will never be disappointed in our bed.”

  His words were more of a warning, but she enjoyed the hard edge of his voice. There was arrogance and pride but she didn’t want either of them any other way. Warriors weren’t meant to be soft and she enjoyed every rough angle.

  “I’m going to enjoy testing that out, guys. A whole lot. So, when is this Yedith showing up? I think he’s late.”

  “Way late.” Cole swatted her butt in reprimand but his eyes shimmered with enjoyment. Dyne shook his head and wiggled a finger at her with a false disapproving frown on his face.

  “Careful, heloni, my mother will pay the man to be even later if she hears you speaking in that manner.”

  “Guess you’d better be nice to your mom.”

  Dyne rolled his eyes but grinned as he clasped her hand and began to pull her back towards the Judgment Hall. Cassandra looked down at their joined hands as Cole captured her other one. Now this was the sort of abduction she was completely approving of. Today, it was a moment filled with joy and confirmation. Binding fever was terminal, and she willingly slipped into its grasp. Letting her old life die in the flames. Going forward mattered, nothing else.

  * * * * *

  “You are lovely.”

  Paneil clasped her hands together and laughed with glee. The woman was a bubble of joy, kind of like a nun. It was impossible to be cross with her because it made you feel like a complete scum-bucket for puncturing her radiance.

  It was low-down and dirty but incredibly effective.

  “She is. I am still absorbing the fact t
hat Dyne has found a mate and a new partner.

  It is pure joy for a mother’s heart.” Cambria was nodding her head as she surveyed the dressing team’s results. The wine-colored garment was a three-quarter-length jacket that had an empire waistline. It was tailored into cups for her breasts and slit up the sides. A pair of paints was gathered into a waistband. It was by far the most comfortable formal outfit she’d ever worn. The color certainly suited her.

  “You must not cut your hair. Alcandian women grow theirs long.” Cambria was fussing with her short hair again. A tiny wrinkle marred the woman’s forehead as she fingered the ends that rested on top of her shoulders.

  “Was yours long when you arrived on Alcandar?”

  Cambria smiled as she shook her head. “You are clever, Cassandra. If you want to know about me, I will tell you. My hair was as short as yours when I was sent here. My mates found me working in the rice fields of North Korea. My life has been very good here.”

  “You were sent here?” Cassandra turned to study Cambria.

  “Yes. When there was agreement between the two planets, warriors had to report back to Earth Military Intelligence when they believed they had found a mate. You are angry because of the circumstances surrounding your arrival, but I was much more devastated because from the moment my feet touched Alcandar, I knew that I had no home to return to. Earth had given me away. Men play harsh games that women do not always understand.” Cambria frowned with her memory, but she lifted a single finger as she finished her instruction. “I have learned that what truly matters is the trust between mates. Even on Earth, only very privileged women are allowed choice in the matter of husband. My family would have given me away too. On Alcandar, the choice to bind was mine alone. It is a gift that I value greatly.”

  And Cassandra felt humbled again. Yeah, she was mad about her career being finished but the truth was, she’d been born into a better life than most. Alcandar did have that on Earth. The women here were allowed more freedom, even if it came with long hair. Tears stung her eyes as she considered the two warriors waiting for her below. They had given her choice when they didn’t have to.